Klink helps Mundelein sink Stevenson

Senior T.J. Klink made sure Tuesday his Mundelein water polo teammates would remember his first quarter goal against visiting Stevenson for some time.

Klink was one of five Mustangs to score at least 2 goals in a decisive 12-6 victory.

"I was really excited about that," junior Mike Begrowicz said about Klink's goal. "He does that a lot during practice and it was nice to see him do it in a game."

Klink added an additional goal and also had 2 assists.

"I don't take backhanded shots often, but it's a fun shot," Klink said. "When the first one is a score, it gets the entire team going."

Stevenson's offense was led by Greg Spigelman (3 goals) and Sean Madden (2 goals, 2 assists). The Patriots did not score in the third quarter.

Stevenson coach Sean Wimer was not overly concerned with the loss. Mundelein's pool is shallow and deep, which changes the complexion of the game. Libertyville also has the same type of pool.

"It's a totally different game in a shallow-deep pool," Wimer said. "We made some mental mistakes I'm not happy with, but I'm not too worried."

This was the second time Mundelein (7-0) and Stevenson (4-3) have played in three days. In an all-deep pool Saturday, Mundelein scored a 6-5 victory in the championship game of the Lake County Tournament.

"We're not silly enough to think the next time we play Stevenson we'll walk all over them," Mundelein coach Rahul Sethna said. "If we have a chance to play them down the road, it will probably be a 1-goal game either way."

Sethna said the Mustangs' varsity spends all its practice time in the deep end of the pool. The Mustangs had played one previous home game this season.

Begrowicz finished with a team-high 3 goals. His consecutive goals in the first half gave the Mustangs a 3-1 advantage.

"We told him at the beginning of the season he would be the 'X' factor," Sethna said. "He's a lefty and a great swimmer. He defers to the seniors, but we need him shooting and being aggressive on offense."

Pat Falconer, Mike Mihel and Ricky Lukacs also had 2 goals. Lukacs added 6 steals.

"We've had six guys score goals the last three games," Sethna said. "That's the best thing we've done."

Senior Dan Molsen made the most of his playing time late in the game. Almost immediately after he was inserted, he scored on a backhanded shot. Molsen scored 6 goals against Highland Park in the Lake County Tournament.

"He's a four-year member of the (program), but this is his first year on varsity," Sethna said. "He's gotten consistently better throughout the years."